The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, stated this Saturday that the population of the Gaza Strip needs a “continuous delivery of aid on the scale needed”after only 20 trucks entered the Rafah crossing in Egypt.
The humanitarian situation needs a “commitment to much more”by Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, and a ceasefire, said the former Portuguese prime minister.
“Today a caravan of 20 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent is moving. But the people of Gaza need a commitment to much, much more, a continued delivery of aid to Gaza on the scale needed. We are working tirelessly with all parties to achieve this,” said António Guterres, in a speech given at the Peace Summit, which is taking place in the so-called New Administrative Capital of Egypt, east of Cairo.
On Friday, Guterres went to the Rafah crossing, which connects Egypt with the Palestinian enclave, to oversee preparations for the opening of the border, after days of waiting for Israeli authorization, and the repair of the damaged road that connects with Gaza. because of the bombings.
“Yesterday I went to the Rafah crossing. I saw a paradox: a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in real time. On the one hand, I saw hundreds of trucks full of food and other essential goods. On the other hand, we know that, on the other side of on the border there are two million people without water, food, fuel, electricity and medicine,” he stated.
The UN Secretary General stressed that These trucks “must move as quickly as possible, in a sustained and safe manner, from Egypt to Gaza.”
During his speech he stated that The UN’s short-term objectives must be clearincluding “immediate, unlimited and sustained humanitarian assistance to besieged civilians in Gaza, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” as well as “immediate and dedicated efforts to prevent the spread of violence that is increasing the risk of its spread.”
To advance all these efforts, Guterres called for “a humanitarian ceasefire now.”
According to Israeli authorities, more than 1,400 people have been killed on Israeli territory by Hamas fighters since October 7, most of them civilians who were shot, burned alive or maimed on the first day of the attack by Gaza fighters.
According to the Israeli army, around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in the counteroffensive that allowed Israel to regain control of the attacked areas.
In the Gaza Strip, 4,137 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed in shelling carried out by the Israeli army in retaliation, according to the Hamas Health Ministry in Gaza.
Source: TSF
